Five News relaunch almost doubles its audience on debut

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The viewing figures for the relaunched Five News almost doubled on its debut outing in the 5pm slot.

The revamped Five News, presented by Natasha Kaplinsky, drew an average audience of 957,000 at 5pm last night, up 43 per cent from its average viewing figures and garnering a 7.5 per cent share of the available audience. The 7pm half-hour slot averaged 431,000 viewers, up by 28 per cent, with a 1.9 per cent audience share.

The 5pm slot moved from 5.30pm to make room for the addition of Australian soap Neighbours, which Five won the rights to over the BBC.

The previous 5.30pm slot averaged 548,000 viewers, or an audience share of 3.8 per cent, and the 7pm slot, 279,000 or 1.4 per cent audience share.

Five News… with Natasha Kaplinsky was part of an early-evening shake up at the channel. Kaplinsky was lured from the BBC for a reported £1 million a year to front Five’s two bulletins.